Hickman too much for Lady Jays

Hickman too much for Lady Jays

Jefferson City guard Kaley Ruff looks to pass during the Lady Jays' matchup against the Hickman Kewpies on Tuesday night at Fleming Fieldhouse.

Photo by
Kile Brewer

You have to look long and hard to find any potential weaknesses for the Hickman Kewpies.

"They are a very good basketball team," Jefferson City coach Dan Ridgeway said Tuesday night after the Lady Jays dropped a 55-19 decision to the Kewpies in girls basketball action at Fleming Fieldhouse.

The Kewpies (18-2, ranked No. 5 in Class 5) did a little bit of everything in the victory. They shot the basketball well (23-of-44), they rebounded it even better (a 35-18 edge on the boards), and they didn't turn it over (six in the game).

"It was a very good performance by them," Ridgeway said.

All five Hickman starters were in the scorebook after a putback by Mikayla Logan gave the Kewpies a 15-3 advantage midway through the first quarter. That putback capped an 8-0 run by Hickman and the lead was in double-digits the remainder of the contest.

Hickman led 20-7 after the first quarter, with Kendahl Adams tossing in 10 of her game-high 17 points in the period

"She shot lights out," Ridgeway said.

One positive in the first quarter for the Lady Jays was their aggressiveness in getting to the basket. Hickman was whistled for four fouls in the opening period, but Jefferson City lost some of that attitude the rest of the game.

"We got timid, we didn't attack enough," Ridgeway said. "I think one advantage we had was our quickness in getting to the basket, but we didn't take advantage of it.

"We got stagnant, maybe a little too much scoreboard-watching instead of just playing the game possession-by-possession."

A 10-2 run to start the second quarter stretched Hickman's advantage to 30-9. It was 34-12 at intermission.

"It's hard for us to play catch-up because that's not our style," Ridgeway said. "We're not a run-and-gun, score a lot of points basketball team."

The Kewpies were 14-of-29 from the field in the first half.

"They shot it very well, we didn't get a hand in the shooter's face like we wanted," Ridgeway said.

Hickman led 46-15 after three periods and the fourth quarter was played with a running clock.

Emily Miller added 10 points for Hickman, who had nine players score in the game.

Kezia Martin, Nicole Martin and Megan Foster each had seven points each to lead Jefferson City (8-13), who will host Rock Bridge on Thursday. The Bruins are No. 1 in Class 5 and are ranked among the top girls teams in the nation.

"It's an opportunity to see what we can do against a team that good," Ridgeway said. "You can't go out there and say "Woe is me,' you have to accept that challenge and compete."

The junior varsity game will start at 6 p.m. Thursday, with the varsity contest to follow around 7:30 p.m.

In Tuesday night's junior varsity game, Hannah Hirschvogel hit three free throws in the final :28 to lead Jefferson City to a 29-25 victory against Hickman.